frank Finds: How Science Will Save Us from Trump, Obesity and Prejudice

April 4, 2016 | frank

By Aaron Zeiler, frank Social Media Director

Trumping False Information

How to Inoculate People Against Donald Trump’s Fact Bending Claims

According to Politifact, 78 percent of what Donald Trump says is false, but there are people who still support his outlandish claims. Fortunately, inoculation strategies – presenting the facts to ward off false statements – can help people identify lies.

This strategy can be useful not only in political situations. For example, Jeff Niederdeppe, frank2016 research prize finalist, found that inoculation strategies can counter false messages from powerful industries like big tobacco, soda and pharmaceutical companies.

The Exaggerated Influence of ISIS, Visualized

The news makes the ISIS threat seem much larger than it actually is. This has created a lot of serious issues for Muslims living in the United States and around the world. In this video, the Atlantic breaks down the power of ISIS, clarifying misinformation about the terrorist group.

Science to the Rescue

The Lifelong Health Toll of Schoolyard Racism

Racism, explicit and implicit, still exists in our country. Researchers from Northwestern University have identified long-lasting effects of racial discriminations. Discrimination in adolescence can influence the body’s cortisol levels, leading to cardiovascular disease, early mortality and other health issues in adulthood. One way to prevent this is for adults, regardless of race, to talk to children about race in a way that models positive interracial behavior.

Scientists have discovered an unbelievably simple new way to fight childhood obesity

Aaron Johnson, Jr., a middle school student from Jacksonville, Florida, argued to the U.S. Surgeon General that our conversations about childhood obesity don’t actually include kids.

New research suggests that water may be the key to solving the childhood obesity crisis. As a result, New York City schools are testing a new water program that is showing great success in lowering kids BMI.

League of Kindness

Can a Video Game Company Tame Toxic Behavior?

League of Legends, one of the largest online video games, is also known for a large amount of racist, sexist, homophobic and violent language. That’s why Riot Games turned to cognitive neuroscientist Jeffery Lin, Ph.D. from the University of Washington in Seattle. His solution: prime the players with messages about being good teammates.

Riot tested this strategy on millions of players, resulting in the reduction of offensive language by 11 percent.